Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
  • H04M11/06—Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
  • H04M11/066—Telephone sets adapted for data transmision

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to dictation and audio communication devices and, more particularly, concerns a method and portable apparatus for audio communication, including the recording and editing of voice mail and audio content and its transmission and reception over a private or public network, such as the Internet, using common electrical communication media or data links .
• All electronic message systems with the exception of voice-mail, have intermediate devices or storage media whereby data may be transferred, preferably at a high transmission rate, over a standard communication link and stored in a storage medium or onto an unattended device for later off-line access, review and editing by the intended user.
• an image is scanned by the transmitter and then transmitted and ultimately printed at a remote site for off-line utilization by the intended receiver.
• data is generated on a computer and then transmitted and stored either directly on the intended user's unattended computer or on a central host computer linked to a network of computers for subsequent retrieval by the intended user.
• the most common networks are Local Area Networks (LAN) , a Wide Area Networks (WAN), and public networks, such as the Internet, or private networks.
• LAN Local Area Networks
• WAN Wide Area Networks
• public networks such as the Internet, or private networks.
• a facsimile may be transmitted to a computer or handheld, paperless fax machine for off-line and independent review by the recipient, such as Reflection Technology, Inc . ' s FaxView personal fax reader.
• HTML Hyper Text Markup Language
• Web site graphics utilities such as Web-On Call Voice Browser by Netphonic Communications, Inc. have been introduced which permit users to access the Internet, in response to voice prompts
• subscription services have been introduced which permit voice mail to be sent to an e-mail address and also permit audio content offered on a Web site to be updated both by way of a standard phone call to an interactive voice response (IVR) system (e.g. "Amail” and "Dialweb” by Telet Communications) .
• IVR interactive voice response
• voice processor system manufacturers have established a work group consisting of more than 60% of the world's voice mail system market to develop an Interoperability standard for a Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) .
• VPIM Voice Profile for Internet Mail
• TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
• SMTP simple message transfer protocol
• MIME Multipurpose Internet Messaging Extension
• content providers are able to broadcast live audio from a Web site (e.g. AudioNet by Cameron Audio Networks) .
• the telephone link for e-mail and facsimile (e.g. PASSaFAX from RADLinx) is further limited to a hook-up to a local point of presence to access the network.
• Both e-mail and facsimile contain content which may be outputted by the intended user to a printer, which permits the user to take a hard copy of the material with him for review at his convenience, while he is away from his office or traveling.
• voice messages and voice-text are currently recorded by the sender and retrieved by the intended recipient primarily in real-time and on-line.
• a user can use his multimedia notebook computer to record and access a stored audio file or streaming voice file.
• Off-line access to audio is limited to downloading audio files onto a multimedia computer and having the sound card equipped computer play the audio.
• a multimedia computer with its screen, keyboard and multipurpose processing capability, is hardly the size of a traditional dictation device or voice recorder. This dependence on a telephone hand set or multimedia computer to create and access audio is analogous to requiring a recipient of a facsimile to view, edit and prepare a facsimile only while in close proximity to a facsimile machine or fax enabled computer.
• TAD Telephone Answering Device
• SOHO home-office
• CTI Network based messages and content
• Faxes can be accessed as data on a computer screen, data can be accessed as a fax or text-to- speech audio-text and, as automatic speech transcription utilities become more capable, audio will be accessed as printed text in email or fax.
• audio does not have an input/output device of choice other than a telephone handset or screen/keyboard based multimedia computer, its desirability as a medium of choice will likewise be severely limited.
• info-text should be the preferred medium for timely data on meetings, speeches and radio broadcasts.
• voice mail should be the preferred mode of communications when traveling, when communicating through time- zones and when accessing timely information which originated in the spoken word (e.g. minutes of a meeting or lecture) .
• Voice text i.e. data or text which is spoken by a computer or pre-recorded by a human
• voice mail In its present state, voice mail is limited to short messages between individuals wishing to communicate in a more substantive fashion at another time (telephone tag) .
• Voice "mail” becomes limited to voice “messaging” because of the cost and inconvenience to both the sender and receiver of listening to lengthy, content-rich "mail” over the phone or at a multimedia computer” .
• the Lamer et al. system permits the user to record and playback, transmit (upload) and receive (download) voice messages from a central message facility and over a communication link and onto a portable device; however, the Lamer et al . system requires that a direct telephonic link be established between the portable device and one or more remote central message facilities.
• the Lamer et al . and Goldberg et al . systems enable the portable device to individually access a traditional, closed, expensive, proprietary voice processing system through a direct communication link.
• the Lamer et al . system does not provide for a method by which the user may browse available audio content nor for a method to select audio files from a menu for subsequent retrieval by the portable computer device.
• the Lamer et al . system does not provide for a utility whereby the user may remotely access a central server linked to a network of servers to download control code, search a personal user group or public database for an address other than by way of initiating a dedicated "training" mode by either coupling the portable computer device directly to a computer or by way of detecting and recording DTMF tones generated locally by a standard touch-tone telephone device.
• Internet Internet access device which enables the user to record, edit and play audio files which may be transmitted and/or received over a public or private network.
• M-TAD Telephone Answering Device
• Providing such a portable access device and method would permit TAD owners to encourage inbound callers to leave more robust and data-rich audio messages on their TAD as well as permit TAD owners to subscribe to audio content which could be regularly delivered to their TAD in compressed digital form and downloaded onto the present invention for play-back and review at a convenient time and place. This would also permit TAD owners, while away from their home or office to have their portable dictation and voice message recording/reviewing device establish a telephone link with their TAD and economically and automatically retrieve all stored messages and update all outgoing messages (e.g. general and caller specific greetings) , with all stored messages and outbound greetings being transmitted in digitized and compressed format.
• outgoing messages e.g. general and caller specific greetings
• the invention provides a low cost, portable recording and playback dictation and voice message recording/reviewing device which permits the user to record, edit, play and review voice messages including audio-text, text-to-speech and other audio material which may be received from and subsequently transmitted to a remote host computer located on a public or private network over a communication link such as the public switched telephone system.
• a preferred device contains its own rechargeable power source, integrated circuitry and control buttons to permit the localized recording, editing, storage, playback and transcription of audio signals through a built-in speaker, microphone or plug- in headset, foot pedal and removable memory card.
• the device also contains a standard RJ-11 telephone jack, modem chip set (or software) , or a removable PCMCIA connector to which a standard or wireless modem card could be connected; and a DTMF tone decoder to permit the transmission and control of audio signals to and from a host computer connected to a public or private network.
• the device contains circuitry which permits it to transmit and receive audio signals at a rate substantially faster than originally recorded.
• a preferred device also contains a processor which _ includes the necessary terminal emulation to permit a network user to access a network directly from a local point of access, such as an Internet service provider's (ISP) point of access and shell account, using a standard protocol such as SMTP
• ISP Internet service provider's
• a preferred device also contains a standard or touchscreen display and software which permits the user to display a similar graphical editor for composing and reading e-mail messages as is displayed on his computer screen when accessing his e-mail, so that the user can scroll through his e-mail messages, selecting those audio files he wishes to download and selecting text messages he wishes to have converted, either by the network server or at the device, into an audio format (text-to-speech) .
• an audio format text-to-speech
• a preferred device also contains : a cradle into which the device may be placed, the cradle having ports which enable it to be connected to a power source to recharge the device ' s batteries; a phone jack to enable it to establish a communication link; and a serial or parallel port on a computer for downloading and uploading files directly to the computer or for receiving "redirected" files.
• a preferred device also contains a language user interface capable of recognizing and responding to speech with speech.
• a language user interface capable of recognizing and responding to speech with speech.
• Such an interface includes speaker independent functions but also permits speaker adaptation which allows the personal device to adjust to the peculiarities of the user's voice or pronunciations and thus improve accuracy.
• This speaker adaptation is achieved through a protocol which allows the system to adapt to the users voice through the repetition of a set of sentences prior to first use of the device (See Lernout & Hauspie Speech Product's [LHSP] asrlOOO product line) .
• the language interface includes a vocabulary builder which permits the user to extend the vocabulary including _ special terms and proper nouns to the speech recognition application (see LHSP LextoolTM) , a user template which enables the user to create words which the device will associate with user defined commands e.g.
• a preferred device also contains public-key encryption technology designed to ensure reliable and secure transmission of sensitive information by encrypting and decrypting the message data and by authenticating the sender's identity by using a secure digital or voice signature.
• a preferred device also contains a text-to-speech utility which permits the user to download data not already converted to speech by a network server and to do so at the device .
• a preferred device also contains a bar code reader which permits the user to scan a printed bar code associated with printed matter such as a news article, a map, a menu of available audio files or in a travel guide which would give the device all the information it needs including network server address, file location and file ID so that the audio file associated with the printed matter could be automatically retrieved from a network such as the Internet.
• a bar code reader which permits the user to scan a printed bar code associated with printed matter such as a news article, a map, a menu of available audio files or in a travel guide which would give the device all the information it needs including network server address, file location and file ID so that the audio file associated with the printed matter could be automatically retrieved from a network such as the Internet.
• a preferred device also contains a bar code reader which permits the user to scan a printed bar code associated with printed matter such as a news article, a map, a menu of available audio files or in a travel guide which would give the device all the information it needs to play a file from a previously retrieved group of audio files (such as described in Goldberg et al . ) .
• a preferred device also contains an Infrared interface using a standard such as the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) for high speed local wireless transmission (e.g. 1.2 Mbps and 4Mbps) of audio files and control codes between the device and a public phone, kiosk or the users' computer.
• IrDA Infrared Data Association
• a preferred device also includes a software utility called an off-line browser which programs the device to automatically retrieve audio files from the network during off- peak hours to which the user has subscribed, or from selected Web sites which have new audio material available, or from e-mail addresses that the user has programmed the off-line browser to retrieve.
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which enables the user, by way of a graphical screen based interface or by way of audio prompts, to browse either network databases such as those located on the Internet for addresses and/or sites from which to receive and send audio files.
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which creates a graphic interface and memory for the user to access, refresh and/or download his E-mail address book containing the E-mail addresses of individuals and groups for which he may wish to prepare and to which he may wish to send audio files.
• a software utility which creates a graphic interface and memory for the user to access, refresh and/or download his E-mail address book containing the E-mail addresses of individuals and groups for which he may wish to prepare and to which he may wish to send audio files.
• Such a utility would automatically synchronize the data in the dictation and voice message recording/reviewing device to the data contained in the user's E-mail server account .
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which creates a graphic interface and memory for the user to organize his/her telephone numbers, E-mail addresses, calendar, reminders and appointments including a clock and alarm function with an option to choose between a simple audible sound alarm or a programmed voice message alarm (e.g. "call home") .
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which enables the user to download proprietary client server software systems and upgrades and newly introduced standards for low bit rate speech compression made available over a public or private network such as the Internet to insure that the device may use the latest state-of-the-art audio compression software.
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which enables the user to download proprietary client server software systems and upgrades and newly introduced standards which enable the device to receive highly compressed and/or streaming audio files containing voice content including, but not limited to application program interfaces (APIs) which enable the device to be used as a portable Internet Phone appliance to conduct a real-time, two-way, full-duplex voice conversation using a local connection to the Internet.
• APIs application program interfaces
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which extends the functionality of a Web program run from a Web browser and operate on data such as audio data as it flows in the user's PC, permitting the user to redirect audio files by the communication port directly to the device seated in a cradle and connected to the serial or parallel port .
• a software utility which extends the functionality of a Web program run from a Web browser and operate on data such as audio data as it flows in the user's PC, permitting the user to redirect audio files by the communication port directly to the device seated in a cradle and connected to the serial or parallel port .
• OLE Object Linking and Embedding
• Web software which when activated by the user by pressing a designated key such as print, redirects audio files directly to a special "printer" driver dedicated for the device.
• the utility permits users who are browsing the Web on their computers to download audio files directly to their personal audio servers for later access, without having to transfer from their hard disc.
• a preferred device also includes a software utility which enables the user to select E-mail messages and request that the messages be converted from text-to-speech by an appropriate text-to-speech conversion application available to the network, and only subsequently digitized and transmitted as digitized and compressed audio file.
• the invention also relates to a method and software utility using DSVD (Digital Simultaneous Voice/Data) and/or the VoiceView protocols (Radish Communications Systems, Inc.) which would enable the user, once connected to a communication link to be able to transfer and receive audio files directly into a dictation and voice message recorder Device simultaneously _ ,_
• DSVD Digital Simultaneous Voice/Data
• VoiceView protocols Radish Communications Systems, Inc.
• the invention also relates to a method and software utility which permit the scalability of digitized audio files in order to conform with network server requirements and or user preferences. This would enable the server to demand or the user to request a lower compression rate or slower transmission speed in order to have higher fidelity for the audio file requested, and vice versa.
• a recording device may be left connected to a communication link and programmed to dial into and to connect to a local network access point at off-peak hours when telephone rates are lowest and when excess capacity on incoming lines is available.
• the recording device is programmed to search the network for audio files to which the user has a subscription, new audio files available from Web sites to which the user has programmed the device to look, and for audio mail sent to the user from selected E-mail addresses.
• an interface port such as a standard RJ-11 telephone jack
• the recording device may be connected between a telephone set, computer, cellular phone or personal digital assistant and a communication link to enable the user to select and retrieve voice files while using any of the above devices.
• circuitry is provided for the digital conversion and compression of the analog voice signals recorded in the memory of a dictation and voice message recording/reviewing device to permit high density storage and high speed transmission of digitized voice.
• circuitry is provided for the analog conversion and natural sounding playback of previously stored or received digitized voice.
• a public terminal e.g. in a manner similar to an automated teller machine and located at places such as airports and tourist sites where a user could connect his recording/reviewing device and select voice messages and audio- text to be retrieved and transmitted directly by the recording/reviewing device.
• Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred personal audio message processor embodying the present invention.
• Figures 2-7 are flow charts illustrating how certain processing is performed in the apparatus of Fig. 1.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a presently preferred Personal Voice Server (PVS) system 10 embodying the present invention.
• PVS system 10 broadly comprises five main parts: a highly integrated DSP/RISC integrated chip 11 (DSP stands for Digital Signal Processor and RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer); a Telecom/Audio Codec 17; a memory such as SDRAM 12 and/or Flash Memory 13 coupled to the DSP chip; peripherals such as a microphone 26, a speaker 18, a touchscreen/display LCD 19, an infrared I/O 21 and a Barcode reader 15.
• DSP Digital Signal Processor
• RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer
• Telecom/Audio Codec 17 a Telecom/Audio Codec 17
• memory such as SDRAM 12 and/or Flash Memory 13 coupled to the DSP chip
• peripherals such as a microphone 26, a speaker 18, a touchscreen/display LCD 19, an infrared I/O 21 and a Barcode reader 15.
• Operating system software is also provided to manage the DSP to handle modem routines such as V32bis, V34 etc., voice recognition, echo cancellation and speech synthesis; software also controls the system via the RISC part of chip 11.
• modem routines such as V32bis, V34 etc., voice recognition, echo cancellation and speech synthesis
• software also controls the system via the RISC part of chip 11.
• the embodying device 10 is referred to ⁇ as a voice server, it should be clear that it is equally useful for other types of audio, including music.
• the DSP chip is preferably a Philips Semiconductor PR31100 chip, which contains a MIPS R3000 RISC CPU core with 4 Kbytes of instruction cache and 1 Kyte of data cache, plus various integrated functions for interfacing to numerous system components and external i/o modules.
• the chip also has a hardware multiply/accumulate unit to perform DSP functions, such as a software fax/modem which eliminates the need for an external modem chip set .
• the chip also has a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receive Transmit) interface 22 (shown separately) , which permits the device to be connected to an external modem or other device (such as a modem equipped Telephone Answering Device) through a conventional RS232 serial connector 23.
• UART Universal Asynchronous Receive Transmit
• the PR31100 also contains multiple DMA (direct memory access) channels and a high-performance, flexible Bus Interface Unit (BIU) for providing an efficient means for transferring data between external system memory, cache memory, the CPU core, and external I/O modules.
• the PR31100 also contains a System Interface Module (SIM) , which provides integrated functions for interfacing to various external I/O modules, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) 19, an infrared I/O module 21, and the Codec 17.
• SIM System Interface Module
• Codec 17 is preferably a Philips UCB 1100 single chip integrated mixed signal audio and telecom codec, which handles most of the analog functions of the system, including the sound and telecommunications codec (analog/digital coding and decoding) functions and touchscreen analog-to-digital conversion, ISDN/high-speed serial, infrared, and wireless peripherals.
• the high-speed serial interface 14, although shown separately in Fig. 1, is actually part of the UCB1100.
• the chip has a single channel audio codec which is designed for direct connection of a microphone and speaker (i.e. components 16 and 28 are actually part of the UCB1100) .
• the built-in telecommunications codec can be connected directly to a conventional RJ-ll jack 20 for connections to a telephone line.
• the operating systems software for the PR31100 is preferably Eden OS version 2.0, commercially available from the Eden Group Limited of Cheshire, England. This operating system is specifically designed to support the PR31100 (also known as DINO) and the UCB1100 (also known as BETTY) .
• a data sheet for the Eden OS is attached, which describes the software support and the drivers provided by the operating system. This data sheet is incorporated in the present description by reference.
• Memory 12, 13 is used to store messages and to hold temporary data.
• the flash memory is configured according to the amount of permanent programs required, including operating system (O/S) and application software and also to store some of the recorded messages.
• audio compression provided in the PR31100 will result in a data bandwidth of less than half a Kbyte per second (i.e. 1Mbyte of memory will provide an hour of audio . )
• a microphone 26 and speaker 18 are selected based on quality and size.
• Flow diagrams are presented in Figs. 2 - 7 to describe the operation of retrieving messages over the Internet and transmitting them to and from the PVS as well as the various operational options for dialing, receiving data from a given server address in the Internet, storing, screening, retrieving, transmitting and playing messages to/from the PVS.
• These operations include receiving compressed messages in digital form and audio signals in analog form bi-directionally from speaker/microphone and phone connection.
• Figures 2a and 2b comprise a flow chart illustrating how the PVS connects to a location on the Internet by Transport Protocol and how the PVS gets all data relating to its Web/email site (e.g. HTML language displaying information) and receives/stores messages (audio, data etc.) that were sent using either a proprietary or de-facto standard (e.g. highly compressed audio at 2.5 kbps) .
• Web/email site e.g. HTML language displaying information
• receives/stores messages audio, data etc.
• messages audio, data etc.
• a proprietary or de-facto standard e.g. highly compressed audio at 2.5 kbps
• Figs. 2a and 2b The operation depicted in Figs. 2a and 2b is run concurrently by the real-time kernel of the DSP/RISC (discussed further below with reference to Fig. 3) . It enables multiple tasks to be run and executed in Parallel. Operation of the main task begins at block 200. Accessing a site and storing or receiving stored messages is run concurrently with other tasks. These tasks can be local to operate the PVS, or other tasks such as the operation of the bar-code reader, voice synthesizer, voice recognition, or to access other Web sites by PPP at the same time.
• a test is performed to determine whether the desired operation is connection to a network access provider via an out-bound call (at block 210) . If not, the modem, in response to a ring, answers the call, completes its handshake procedure, and begins receiving information (block 204) . Data bits from the modem are received by DSP chip 11 at block 220. The DSP chip decodes the incoming data at block 230.
• a test is performed to determine whether the desired operation is to decode an HTML site. If not, control transfers to block 340. Otherwise operation continues at block 250, where the display of the site page begins.
• a test is performed at block 260 to determine whether the mode of operation is interactive or automatic. In the interactive mode, the user of the PVS has to browse and select the desired operation to be completed. In automatic mode, the keyword (s) to retrieve audio or other messages are searched for and activated automatically to get the compressed data. If the test at block 260 senses the interactive mode, control is transferred to block 110 in Fig. 2b. If not, automatic browsing is done starting at block 270 to search for a highlighted keyword symbol.
• a test is performed to determine whether the keyword constitutes a request for a previously digitized message and if so, the data compressed by FTP protocol is received by the PVS at block 290. If the test at block 280 results in a "no", control transfers to the block 310.
• a test is performed to determine whether no more messages exist, and, if so, control returns to block 100. Otherwise, a test occurs at block 320 to determine if the keyword constitutes a request for a place to store local messages at the web server. If so, this data, such as a compressed audio messages, is transmitted from the PVS to the web site (block 330) . If not, control returns to the start (block 100) . The process is continued until there are no other stored messages for the PVS owner at this Web site.
• a test is performed to determine whether this cite is utilizing the FTP protocol language. If so, a message is retrieved utilizing FTP (block 360) , and it is stored at block 380 and control is transferred to block 120 in Fig. 2b. If it is determined at block 340 that FTP protocol is not being used, a test is performed at block 340 to determine whether or not a recognized access language is being received. If so, a message is retrieved at block 360 utilizing the recognized access language and is then stored at block 380. Control is then transferred to block 120 in Fig. 2b. If a recognized access language is not found at block 350, the user is notified at block 370 and control returns to block 100.
• control is transferred to block 110 in Fig. 2b.
• the keywords in the web page are selected and, at block 114 HTML interpretation is activated to locate the messages in the pool.
• messages are then sent and/or received and control is returned to block 100 in Fig. 2a.
• control is transferred to block 120 in Fig. 2b.
• Any data which is stored causes the creation of data in a flat database (block 120) , which may be searched to locate the data at a later time.
• the message is an audio message, it is decompressed and played at the same time that it is transmitted by FTP protocol.
• the test at block 122 determines whether such action is necessary for the current message and, if so, decompression and the audio synthesizer are activated (block 124), the database is updated to reflect that the message is ready to be synthesized, and control is returned to block 100.
• block 122 transfers control to block 128, where a test is performed to determine if the message is to be sent to the web server and, if not, control is returned to block 100. If the message is to be sent to the web server, it is sent by FTP at block 130, and the user is notified upon completion of the transfer (block 132) , after which control returns to block 100.
• the kernel is multitasking, in that it can run multiple programs or tasks concurrently, with each one having its own priority and being capable of initiating other (child) tasks.
• operation starts at the idle mode at block 480, where the PVS waits for events to occur, and when one occurs it is handled at block 430. Every program interacts with the operating system this way, by having its tasks attended to at block 430.
• the type of events that arise are either synchronous or asynchronous.
• processing of the synchronous events is initiated via connector 5. Otherwise, a test is performed at block 450 to detect an asynchronous event, in which case processing of the asynchronous events is initiated via connector 6.
• the operating system After processing is initiated the operating system returns to the idle mode to process other events.
• Another special event to occur is error handling at block 460.
• a test is performed at block 460 to detect a failure event and if there is none, the program returns to the idle mode.
• an error event is detected at block 460 and a run time handler is issued (block 470) and handles the event. Control then returns to the idle mode.
• the synchronous and asynchronous events identified in Fig. 3 are only exemplary and it is contemplated that there may be others of each type.
• Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the routine performed by the controller of DSP/RISC Chip 11 when an analog _ audio message is to be recorded.
• a test is performed to determine whether the incoming messages are from the built-in microphone. If not, control is transferred to the routine of Fig. 5. If so, the audio message is digitized and compressed (block 720) and placed in the working pool of data (block 730) .
• a test is performed to determine whether memory was filled before an entire message was stored. If not, the routine is terminated, and control returns to the idle mode. If so, recording is disable (block 750) , and the operator is notified, as by warning light, that the memory is full (block 760) . Control reverts to the idle mode.
• Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the routine performed to record analog audio from the telephone line .
• a test is performed to determine whether an audio message being received is from the communications link (telephone line) . If not control is transferred to the routine of Fig. 6. If so , the message is passed through the Telecom/Audio Codec 17 as audio (block 810) , and a test is performed at block 820 to determine whether compression is to be performed by the DSP/RISC Chip. If so, the message is stored in local memory (block 830) , recording is stopped, and control is returned to the idle mode. If compression is not to be performed by the DSP/RISC Chip ⁇ .
• the message is sent to the Telecom/Audio Codec, which compresses it by a standard (ADPCM) algorithm (block 840) .
• the message is then sent back to the DSP/RISC 11 through its UART (block 850) , and the DSP/RISC chip control that causes the message to be stored I flash memory 13 (block 860) . Control is then returned to the idle mode .
• Figure 6 is a block diagram of the routine performed by the Audio/Telecom Codec controller to play stored audio through the built-in speaker.
• the operator selects a message from the pool of messages stored in the device.
• a test is performed to determine whether stored message to be read was originally compressed by the audio/telecom codec. If not, control is transferred to block 920. If so, the message is read and decompressed using the audio/telecom codec (block 930) , and the decompressed message is applied to the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in the audio/telecom codec (block 940) .
• the message is the played via the built-in speaker 18 through the D/A converter and amplifier 28 (block 950) , and control is returned to the idle mode.
• a test is performed at block 920 to determine whether the stored message was originally compressed by the audio/telecom codec. If not, the user is notified (block 960) , and control is returned to the idle mode. If so, the message is read by the controller (block 970), and it is then sent to the modem to be decompressed and then returned from the modem to memory 13 through the UART port of the audio/telecom codec 17 (block 980) . Control is transferred to block 940, and playback is handled in the same manner as a message originally compressed by the Audio/telecom codec.
• FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of how the PVS, connected to its cradle may be connected to a PC (whether multimedia or not) or to a specially configured TAD with a built-in modem in order to permit a PC or TAD user (A) to send or receive a voice file from or to the PVS through a modem other than the telecom/audio codec of the PVS.
• a PC or TAD user A
• the same configuration would permit a non- multimedia PC user (B) to play audio files by using the PVS ' s multimedia capabilities to play audio files received over the non-multimedia PC's modem.
• This configuration would likewise permit the PC user (C) to record audio through the PVS ' s built- in microphone and transmit it through the PC's modem as files or streaming audio.
• Such a configuration would also permit the user of a PC (D) to redirect audio files directly to the PVS while using a standard Web browser program.
• a similar configuration with a modem configured TAD would permit the TAD user to download audio messages to and from the TAD to the PVS.
• Bi-directional communication from the PC to the PVS is handled by a communication cable (e.g. 9 pin connector) at the PC and the serial RS232 port on the PVS and controlled by the asynchronous event software controlling input/output from the UART communication interface .
• the software at the PC handles the driver for sending/receiving data to/from the PC to the PVS. For sending data, this would be similar to a PC sending data to a fax or printer, and for receiving data, this is similar to a PC receiving data from a scanner.
• This driver sets all required parameters for the PVS such as type of operation, length and wait for acknowledgment and "End of Transmission” .
• the PC also handles the software to use the PVS as an attachment (peripheral) for receiving multimedia audio messages so that the speaker on the PVS will operate.
• the PC also handles the software to manage the microphone input of the PVS, and software to integrate with a standard Web Browsers (e.g. Netscape Navigator) to be fully integrated with the software and invoke commands to the PVS accordingly.
• a standard Web Browsers e.g. Netscape Navigator
• the software in the PVS is part of the multitasking operating functions to handle Remote activation of Procedural Calls (RPC) controlled under the asynchronous events software of the PVS.
• RPC Procedural Calls
• PR31100 Processor is a single-chip, low-cost, integrated embedded • 32-b ⁇ t R3000 RISC static CMOS CPU processor consisting of MIPS R3000 core and system support logic to interface with various types of devices. • 4 KByte instruction cache
• PR31100 consists of a MIPS R3000 RISC CPU with 4 KBytes of • 1 KByte data cache instruction cache memory and 1 KByte of data cache memory, plus
• R3000 RISC CPU is also augmented • On-chip peripherals with individual power-down with a multiply/accumulate module to allow integrated DSP - Multi-channel DMA controller functions, such as a software modem for high-performance standard data and fax protocols.
• PR31100 also contains multiple DMA - Bus interface unit channels and a high-performance and flexible Bus Interface Unit - Memory controller for ROM, Flash, RAM, DRAM, SDRAM, (BIU) for providing an efficient means for transf e ng data between SRAM, and PCMCIA and or MagicCard external system memory, cache memory, the CPU core, and - Power management module external I O modules.
• Video module supported include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), - Real-time dock 32.760KHz reference ynchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), Rash memory, read-only memory - High-speed serial interface (ROM), and expansion cards (PCMCIA and/or MaglcCard).
• DRAM dynamic random access memory
• SDRAM Real-time dock 32.760KHz reference ynchronous dynamic random access memory
• SRAM static random access memory
• Rash memory read-only memory - High-speed serial interface (ROM), and expansion cards (PCMCIA and/or MaglcCard).
• PR31100 also contains a System interface Module (SIM) containing - Dual-UART Integrated functions for interfacing to numerous external I/O - SPI bus modules such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), the UCB1100 (which handles most of the analog functions of the system, including sound • 3.3V supply voltage and telecom codecs and touchscreen ADC), ISDN/high-speed • 208-pm LQFP (Low profile quad flat pack) serial, infrared, wireless peripherals, Magicbus, etc.
• SIM System interface Module
• LQFP Low profile quad flat pack
• Figure 1 shows an External Block Diagram of PR31100.
• BlU Module programmable, using breakpoint address, mask, control, and
• MagicCard or - handles data bus, address bus, and control interface between general purpose chip selects CPU core and rest of PR31 00 logic available for (future) MagicCard expansion memory
• PR31100 provides the chip select ana card detect signals
• Clock Module supports card insertion/removal timeouts •
• PR31100 supports system-wide single crystal configuration, MagicCard requires minimal number of unique control status besides the 32 KHz RTC XTAL (reduces cost, power, and board space) signals per port
• SPI System Peripheral Interface
• power management state machine has 4 states RUNNING module DOZING, SLEEP, and COMA • UART-B port used for general purpose senal control interface
• Serial Interconnect Bus (SIB) Module • UART-A and UART-B DMA support for receive and transmit
• SIB Serial Interconnect Bus
• PR31100 contains holding and shift registers to support the senal interface to the UCB1100 and/or other optional codec devices Video Module
• each SIB frame consists of 128 clock cycles, further divided into 2 • supports split and non-split displays subframes or words of 64 bits each (supports up to 2 devices
• Figure 2 shows a typical system block diagram cosisting of PR31100 and UCB1100 for a total system solution.
• the UCB1100 is a single chip, integrated mixed signal audio and GENERAL DESCRIPTION 2 telecom codec.
• the single channel audio codec is designed for APPLICATIONS 2 direct connection of a microphone and speaker.
• the built-in telecom KEY FEATURES 2 codec can directly be connected to a DAA and supports high speed TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 modem protocols.
• the UCB1100 has a serial interface bus (SIB) intended to 6.0 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION 8 communicate to the system controller. Both the codec input and 6.1 AUDIO CODEC 8 output data and the control register data is multiplexed on this SIB 6.1.1 AUDIO INPUT SPECIFICATIONS 10
• PIC Personal Intelligent Communicators
• PDA Personal Digital Assistants
• the telecom codec is 9.1 PACKAGE OUTLINE LQFP48 34 intended for direct connection to a DAA (digital access 10.0 DEFINITIONS 36 arrangement) and includes a built-in sidetone suppression circuit.
• SIB 4 wire serial interface data bus
• EROS Erden Real-time Operating System
• the operating system consumes resources in the form of ROM and RAM in the product, these resources add to the BOM costs of the product and any space occupied by the OS must be justified.
• EROS is designed to be small.
• the modularity is also a feature which supports the compactness of the operating system; where individual products do not need a feature it can be omitted or replaced by some subset, leaving more room for the visible components that add features and thus perceived value.
• Open an open OS will be more likely to attract 3 ri party developers looking to design software products for sale, so allowing more value in the form of available features to be added to products based on the OS.
• EROS has a published API and a PC-based SDK which supports the development of applications in a readily available development platform.
• EROS 99% written in ANSI C, porting to a new processor and/or tailoring to a specific product design is sufficiently simple and predictable for this to be completely acceptable within a product development lifecycle.
• EROS offers the same application interface on each platform, allowing applications to run on any EROS platform.
• EROS application development is carried out on a PC SDK incorporating a subset of the target OS.
• Eden will adopt the GNU toolset for the development of EROS itself and support this toolset for all targets.
• EROS The components of EROS are:
• ARK This is the core of EROS; based on the ITRON 3 specification and extended, this supports pre-emptive, prioritised multitasking, message queues, semaphores, rendezvous ports, event flags and interrupt handling.
• VMM Virtual Memory Management
• EVE Eden's Visual Environment
• ADAM Advanced Database Access Module
• the EROS clipboard supports copy, cut and paste and drag and drop. It does this by allowing applications to set-up self-describing data items which can then be passed between applications which have no knowledge of each other.
• EROS' file system is built as a number of layers, allowing multiple filing systems to be supported (typically a DOS- compatible filing system on PC-cards and a Flash-oriented for built in non-volatile storage) without the applications being aware of such details.
• PC card services EROS supports SRAM, Flash and ATA drives as storage and data exchange devices.
• the PC card services offer a key set of facilities allowing support for specific card types to be developed as necessary.
• EROS' Device Manager supports the dynamic addition of device drivers and allows handler tasks to establish a connection to whichever is the most appropriate driver.
• TCP/IP EROS supports TCP/IP, SLIP and PPP. A number of higher levels protocols are supported as standard within the OS including UDP, FTP, SMTP,
• Linking and Loading Embedded systems are typically provided as a single ROM containing the operating system and all the applications. The addition of new applications and the correction of those supplied in ROM is difficult. Flash memory is used, but the mechanisms for upgrade and addition are usually clumsy.
• EROS makes use of a Dynamic Linker Loader (ELF) to overcome much of this difficulty.
• ELF Dynamic Linker Loader
• EROS itself and built-in applications are installed in ROM but their external linkage symbols are loaded into RAM during start-up. Patches can be installed so that later in the start-up sequence some of these symbols are changed to point to new code, thus avoiding the obselete areas of code in ROM.
• applications which are loaded dynamically are linked to this symbol table and so use the correct built-in and patched code.
• the OS structure supports OEMs and application developers in providing a framework within which applications can be constructed which are easily ported from language to language and from country to country, with little or ideally no change to software.
• Embedded applications are often battery powered and hence power use is critical. While the degree of support offered by particular processors and products will vary, EROS supports an API which allows applications to be contructed in a power-sensitive manner and supports the specific attributes of particular platforms in an appropriate manner.
• Application Interface Any application program interacts with EROS through the Application Program Interface (API). At the prograrnming level these appear as function calls. These functions are primarily in the form of 'helpers' which execute as part of the application task and exchange information with one or more EROS tasks before returning to the application code. Responses and other input from EROS are provided by messages sent to the task's input queue or, for so-called 'blocking' calls, by the helper function using a 'rendezvous' for the exchange. Application tasks are usually structured as a single message handling loop which takes messages from a message queue.
• API Application Program Interface
• EROS includes a set of tools to enable applications to be developed for EROS platforms. Such applications will usually be platform (processor) and product independent, subject to appropriate devices being available to handle the interfaces.
• the toolset comprises:
• EROS for the target platform is supplied in the form of shared libraries making up the 'helper' functions, object code for the EROS tasks and an initial startup sequence to be modified by or on behalf of the OEM.
• EROS supplies a skeleton start-up sequence (above) for each target platform; extending this is a product-specific task.
• Non-standard devices EROS has a device handling architecture which supports the addition of new device handlers.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

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• 1998
  • 1998-04-11 CN CN98805009A patent/CN1260924A/zh active Pending
  • 1998-04-11 IL IL13230698A patent/IL132306A0/xx unknown
  • 1998-04-11 WO PCT/US1998/007228 patent/WO1998047252A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-04-11 CA CA002286043A patent/CA2286043A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-04-11 EP EP98914674A patent/EP1060616A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-04-11 JP JP10544101A patent/JP2001503236A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-04-11 AU AU68976/98A patent/AU6897698A/en not_active Abandoned

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